1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates generally to passageway structure seals and more specifically it relates to a truck tunnel. The truck tunnel is an inflatable circular tube for securement between a rear wall of a pickup truck cab and a front wall of a camper cap to form a weatherproof and windproof seal therebetween.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous passageway structure seals have been provided in prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,897,970 to Gattenby; 4,095,836 to Pettit; 4,299,422 to Pettit and 4,616,871 to Pettit all are illustrative of such prior art. While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.
A flexible, resilient, soft material inflatable filler is tapered and flat-sided with corner beading to firmly and frictionally lodge between cab wall and cap wall while extending around the cab window and camper cap window to enable vision therethrough while preventing accumulation of snow or leaves in the gap. The filler is of inverted U-shape, and generally quadrangular in cross section, and entirely fills the gap. It is self-supporting when inflated for easy insertion in, and withdrawal from the gap, held in place by full inflation to the desired pressure, but foldable into a compact package when deflated, the seal extends fully across the gap from one side of the cab and cap to the other side thereof.
To provide needed stability between a vehicle, such as a pickup truck, and an added removable body component, such as a camper, one or more large inflatable structural components are positioned fully between them at the cab location. For example, wherein a large camper is placed on a pickup truck and the camper has a cab-over portion generally housing a sleeping space, two inflatable structural components are utilized. One structural component is located fully on the cab roof and inflated into mutual contact with the cab-over portion of the camper that is directly opposite the full cab roof. The other structural component is located between the full rear of the cab, minus any window area, and the front wall of the camper, minus any window area, and is inflated into mutual contact with their respective surfaces. Each structural component functions to withstand and to modify the possible changing relative motions between the vehicle and body component so they become more of an overall single-like structural unit increasing the overall stability of their combination.
A flexible, plastics material boot for insertion within the adjacent opened windows in a camper, cap or canopy and truck combination. A central flexible tunnel has two inflatable toroidal chambers at the tunnel ends which are simply pushed or popped into place after chamber inflation. No other attachment of any kind is required to install the boot in place.
A plastics material boot for insertion within adjacent, aligned openings or windows in a camper, cap or canopy and truck combination. A central, flexible tunnel in the form of an inflatable toroidal chamber has spring loaded, compressible, generally quadrilaterally shaped ends inserted through and behind the openings in a compressed state where after they are released to expand and retain the ends behind the openings. The central tunnel is then inflated. No other attachment of any kind is needed to install and retain the boot in place.